Crashing: missing moments Ironman 2
by RhyannD
Summary: immediately follows the fight with Whiplash in Monaco. And then some. Now continuing missing moments from IM2, connected but should stand alone too. Pepper & Tony. Not my characters, not my universe... just playing with them, and promise I leave them better than I found 'em.
1. Crash

The world went still but for the rushing in his ears for a moment, then police officers were moving in to take custody of the whip-wielder. Immediately he sought the car...

What was left of the car...

An ambulance slid to a stop at an odd angle,, lights flashing. Happy was being assisted out of the vehicle. But at the opening to the back seat, two medics just stood. Not helping, not doing _anything_... God. PEPPER.

Without thought he flew the few yards, setting down without care, the loud metallic 'clang' startling the medics. When they turned to look at him, he could see beyond them, Pepper was crumpled in the seat, hair escaped from her ponytail, hiding her features.

His heart seemed to stop. He could not catch his breath. He could not take the final step toward the shorn car. She was lying forward, her face down on her knees. No.

God no.

_Pepper. _

He yanked his gloves off. Pulled at the helmet which was dented and did not want to come off. The medics turned back to the car, and it was a moment before he heard them, another moment before their words could penetrate the wall of grief rising up before him.

"Please, Ma'am, let us check you."

Tony Stark's knees would have buckled if not for the metal and hydraulics surrounding them. Another step and he was to the jagged metal edges. The medics backed off.

"Pepper?" His voice was rough. Quiet.

"Go away." Small, pale hands covered her eyes. Her voice shook.

"Pepper? Are you hurt?"

Her shoulders impossibly hunched more. He could not stand it, he reached his hand to her shoulder. It was reassuringly warm beneath his palm, with a faint flinch, and a fine shudder running through her. "Pepper?" His voice was a whispered plea.

"Go away." She tried to shrug her shoulder out from beneath his hand. Gently he stayed with her, angling himself as much as metal suit and crushed metal car would allow.

"Pep, let me help you." His heart was still not beating properly. He could not seem to catch his breath properly. She might kill him before the palladium if he could not establish her safety and wellbeing NOW.

"I'm going to be sick." Her voice was tiny. Another shiver delicately shuddered through her.

"Come out of the car, Pepper." He tried to be both reassuring and commanding.

She did not reply. He turned to the medics, who shrugged helplessly, then backed off to stand by the stretcher where Happy sat, fussing at being fussed over.

With a frustrated groan, Tony backed out of the car and methodically began to strip off what was left of his suit. Everything hurt. But not as much as his heart hurt at the thoughts of Pepper being injured. Clear of the metal, he gingerly climbed into the seat.

She flinched again when he rested his hand on her back. "Go. Away." She ordered, miserably.

"Pepper..."

She was shivering in earnest now, and he gently rubbed his hand across her shoulders, trying to warm her. "Are you hurt?"

"I told you, I'm going to be sick." He motioned to one of the medics, pointing to the blanket on the end of the stretcher where Happy sat. It was brought over. Gently he draped it over her shoulders. Tenderly, he pushed the hair back off the side of her face so he could see her. She was deathly pale.

"Is he... ?" Her eyes were squinched closed.

"No." He softly massaged her neck, feeling the tendons like steel bands beneath his hand.

"Pep, can you sit up sweetie? We need to see if you're hurt."

"I'm OK. Just... car sick." A nervous chuckle, bordering on hysteria escaped as she slowly sat up. She finally opened her eyes and looked at the man sitting next to her; At the blood dripping down his bruised cheek, tears welled in her eyes. "You're the one hurt..." She reached up, but stopped just shy of touching him

"Don't cry, Pepper. You know I can't deal with it when you cry." Tony cupped her jaw with his hand, his thumb catching a tear "Don't cry for me, Pep. I'm OK. Are _you_ hurt?." His tenderness was her undoing. Finally letting go of the iron tension keeping her together, she turned into him, clutched at his shirt, and leaned her forehead down against his shoulder.

He smelled of smoke and electrical fire, and sweat and fear, and Tony. She was embarrassed-mortified-at her reaction. But his hands came up to rub her shoulders and for the first time since she saw that insane man walk out onto the track, she believed he was safe.

Gradually the storm passed. Tony snugged the blanket up around her. "Think we can get out of this wreck now?" Sniffling, she nodded. He climbed out and turned to help her. Her knees buckled when she tried to stand. "Whoa... easy." He caught her, strong hands above her elbows, steadying her.

She blinked owlishly at the destruction and debris around them. Another shudder crawled up her spine to her scalp. So close... Startlingly she pulled away from Tony even as he clutched at her arms. But she bent at the waist while her stomach relieved itself of the contents of their earlier lunch.

To his credit, (and her astonishment,) Tony stood by her side, holding her arm, even as the medics moved in. She waved them away, refusing treatment. "I just want to go home."

Tony waved the medics away from himself too. When Pepper would have overridden him, he raised an eyebrow at her. Without words, he reminded her of her own choice. With an exasperated sigh, she collected Happy and the three headed with an officer for a cruiser to get them back to their hotel. If she sat too close to Tony in the back seat, he had the grace, for once, to not comment on it. Happy was quiet in the front seat, holding an ice pack to his forehead.

If Tony's hand on her lower back felt intimately possessive on the way up to their suite, she chose to ignore it. Well, not ignore, exactly. In point of fact, she enjoyed it. A little too much. She could not afford to let him into her heart. Not more than he already was. She had watched in mute horror after he kicked the car away as he fought for his life. She knew every time he left in the damn suit that he was at risk. She waited, paced, watched the clock tick until his return; patched up the cuts, iced the bruises he couldn't reach... But this brought it way, way too close to home. Her stomach churned again at the thought. As if sensing her discomfort, Tony gently rubbed his hand on her lower back.

Entering the suite, Pepper plopped down onto the opulent overstuffed couch in the main sitting room, letting her head drop back.

"I've got to clean up then go to the police station... " Tony was saying, already undressing and dropping items of clothing carelessly along the path to his rooms.

"OK." She answered, quietly. She would get up in a minute and clean up herself. But just for a little bit she would rest. But jetlag and adrenaline washout conspired to pull her inexorably down into the plush cushions...

When Tony came out his rooms, freshly showered, buttoning his shirt,, he saw Pepper had not moved from the couch. Her neck would hurt if he left her sleeping like that.

"Pepper?" He said quietly, trying not to startle her. No reaction. Usually she was the lightest of sleepers. When he had first come back from Afghanistan, he had wondered if she _ever_ slept herself, since she always seemed to be there for him when the inevitable nightmares caught up with him. "Pep?"

He crouched next to the couch, experimentally reaching for a slender ankle. She didn't budge. He removed her shoe, marvelling at the height of the heels she managed to stay balanced on. When she still did not wake, he was a little more leisurely in removing her other shoe, allowing his hands to slide along her silky ankle, over the arch of her foot.

Feeling slightly guilty, certainly a foreign concept to Tony Stark, he gently lifted both her feet and swung her legs up onto the couch. Still, she slept, though her lashes fluttered slightly. But he spoke to her, soft, soothing nonsense words as he gently lowered her head and shoulders down to a comfortable position. She quieted, turning slightly on her side, raising a small fist to rest beneath her chin. He could not resist one final ministration, and he released her hair from what was left of her ponytail, savoring the silky strands as they sifted through his fingers.

Her cheeks were still pale, dark purple shadows looked almost like bruises under her eyes. Giving in to an urge he could not explain, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. He lingered for a moment, savoring the contact. He wondered if you missed people when you were dead. He brushed hair off her cheek, tucking it behind her ear.

He stood to leave, then stopped. Removing his suit jacket, he gently tucked it around Pepper's shoulders. He hated to leave her. But there was nothing else he could do.


	2. Slow to Wake

The elevator doors swished closed, and Tony felt as if all the energy he had was sucked out with the sound. He slumped against the back wall as the lift climbed to the penthouse. The confrontation with Vanko in the cell had taken the last of his reserves.

And he was overdue for chlorophyll.

He should have died out there, on that track. It would have been easier. Fast.

But Pepper had been there, and Happy... and so many other innocents.

The elevator stopped, doors opening. He shuffled through, absently fumbling for the card key. Entering the suite, he saw Pepper had not moved from the couch. Her brows were furrowed, even in sleep. He wished he could take back the stress that went with the company... but he knew he could trust her. She would continue what he started, she would make sure no more Stark weapons got where they didn't belong.

He stood, for a moment, just looking at her. His jacket had slid partly off her. She moved in her sleep, small agitated twitches. WIthout conscious thought, he moved to her and pulled the jacket up, snugging it around her shoulders.

She quieted.

He looked for a moment over toward his room. They still had about three hours until their flight home. He needed to crash so badly...

The room was so far away. And the couch was right here. And she was here.

He wanted nothing so badly as to hold her while she slept. But there were consequences to that he was not ready for, may never be ready for.

So instead, he moved to the end of the couch where her feet rested. More restless movements told her she was dreaming. Gently he lifted her feet as he sat, lowering them back down on his lap. There. He was touching her. She was safe. She was real. She was here. He could rest for now.

* * *

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Pepper rose to consciousness slowly. Her head hurt, sinuses stuffy from crying. She ached all over, like she had the flu. She wasn't in her bed. She tried to reconcile where she was with what day it was...

Monaco. She felt the heavy, raw silk collar of Tony's suit jacket beneath her chin. She didn't remember falling asleep. Her upper body was warm under the jacket, but her knees felt the chill of the artificially cooled air. But her calves and ankles and feet were... warm on the bottom?

Stifling a groan at her aching head and neck, she cracked an eye open. Tony sat on the other end of the couch. He had her feet up on his lap. His head was thrown back, mouth open, snoring lightly. His hands rested, warm on her calf and ankle.

Something in the position was so vulnerable, and yet possessive at the same time. Her stomach clenched, not unpleasantly. She closed her eyes again, willing reality to wait for just a few more minutes. His unconscious touch on her burned.

Something was wrong. She'd felt it hovering, at the edges of her awareness for a while now. Since before his Quixotic announcement that he was giving her the company... She could not identify it though. Stocks were high and holding steady. The windfarm initiatives were promising. The Expo was a huge nightmare and money pit, but was progressing as scheduled and gaining attendance...

No, she could not put her finger on the lingering sense of dread. It wasn't even that he had maneuvered around her to put Natalie in position as his PA. His proprietary hand on her back, fingers wrapping her ribcage and just brushing into forbidden territory just moments after he whispered, "Whatever happens in the next fifteen minutes, just go with it... " preceded the disclosure. His teasing her that green was not her best colour... no, it was not jealousy. It was something darker, colder, more... slithery.

She was debating how she could get off the couch without waking him when the strident bell of the phone cut through the silence in the hotel room. Both of them startled awake, and in one movement she swung her legs off his lap and stood, reaching for the phone. "Your wake up call, Miss Potts, your flight is cleared for takeoff in two hours."

She drew in a breath after hanging up the phone, the waiting filled with awkward nerves on her part. She didn't usually fall apart like she had earlier. In fact, she never fell apart.; Virginia might, but Pepper, never. She needn't have worried. Tony was on his feet, stretching like a lazy Tomcat, blinking sleep from his eyes. She saw odd dark marks on the side of his neck, couldn't tell if it was bruising or cuts, but then he dropped his arms and his collar covered it again.

He caught her staring. For a moment she thought she saw longing in his eyes. Then his fake, self-satisfied smirk lifted the corners of his lips. "Miss Potts?" One eyebrow rose in question.

"Two hours." She said, then had to clear the sleep from her voice, "Two hours until take off, Mr. Stark."

She was about to say something more, to confront him, to ask him... to ask him what? With a nod of her head she shook off the notion. "I'll uh... get us a car and driver." She muttered, falling into old patterns of automatically thinking ahead, filling in the gaps, picking up the pieces...

Pepper spent almost all of the two hours pre-flight returning phone calls, texts and emails. It was a relief to turn her blackberry to wi-fi only when they boarded. Soon after takeoff, Tony disappeared.

She turned on the TV to see just how bad things were...

They were worse than she expected. That ass of a Senator Stern was basking in glory, on every station from the BBC to CNN. Her stomach sank and her eyes burned with the need to weep.

What the hell was going on? She took a deep breath that hitched with unshed tears.


	3. Birthday Bashed

When Pepper looks down at her hand, she notices with odd detachment she is actually shaking. If pressed to identify a single reason for it, she would come up with rage. But there is so much more there.

It's not the first time he's said he loves her. No, drunk Tony is always affectionate and sloppy. She's used to fending off his hands, and even at times his mouth.

But when he started... _shooting_ things... inside the house... with all those _people_ there.

She will kill him. She wants to kill him with her bare hands right now, to rip that suit off him piece by piece and then give him exactly what is on her mind. Of course, that might mean speaking to him again. And she will not be speaking to him any time in the near future.

What is WRONG with him?

She's known him to be reckless, she's known him to be a drunk. She has never known him to put others in danger. And she can't get through to him. For the first time in years she used her best weapon, "Tony, trust me," and he would not.

And it is easier to be furious than to acknowledge the aching void where her heart used to be. The gnawing, roiling bile in her stomach.

Tony. She stands under the roof of the entryway with Happy. He won't let her go back in after he literally physically pulls her out of harm's way. That's how far gone Tony is.. He almost hurt _her_. Physically. Emotionally, she isn't sure she could be hurt any more.

Confused? Absolutely. Pissed? Entirely. She _**hoped**_ in the last few months. Since Afghanistan, he has grown up. Oh, he is still narcissistic, impulsive and borderline manic; but she has not had to 'take out the trash' once. Tonight is the first binge he's been on. Even in Monaco, he'd shared a suite with her and behaved himself admirably.

Her heart caught at that... They've not talked about it. They've talked around it, but she doesn't want to admit she completely lost it. He... well, he's just been not right. He's not talking about *anything.*

When the explosion blasts through the house, Pepper screams. Her first instinct is to run toward it. Only Happy and Natalie, one on each arm, keep her from going into the house. In moments which feel like a lifetime, when he thinks there won't be another explosion and there does not seem to be spreading fire danger, Happy tells her he'll go check, but only, ONLY if she stays put with Natalie.

Time slows to a crawl between him entering the house and his return to them. The look on his face is somehow reassuring-disgust and disappointment. Despite everything, Happy would be devastated if Tony were not alright.

"No fire. The place is trashed. He'll be sore tomorrow, which he deserves." Happy pauses, seems as if he's going to say something else, then changes his mind. "Let me get you ladies home. You'll have enough to deal with in the morning."

Natalie sits in front. Neither she nor Happy speaks. Pepper tries furiously to keep the tears at bay until she is in the privacy of her own apartment. The rage is so hot it is as if she sees red. But the pain is there too. It is easier to be mad, so she hangs on to it.

Enough to deal with indeed.


End file.
